For those who know me really well, know that I am OBSESSED with Costco! Once people mention Costco, my ears perk up and I immediately interject myself into the conversation talking about Costco with such enthusiasm. When I say I am obsessed with Costco, I mean that I don’t step foot into a normal grocery store unless we are desperate to buy something we run out of. When I say I am obsessed with Costco, I try to convince others to buy a membership to start shopping there or if they have a membership, they should only shop there. I am so obsessed with Costco, I get excited to get the deals pamphlet in the mail to look through all the upcoming deals.
Jesse and I have been shopping at Costco for about 2 years now consistently and it has changed our lives and has saved us a lot of money in grocery shopping. Costco at this point is considered a date! Now, you may be wondering: where does everything fit? Do you live in an apartment? Do you have a car? Does any food go bad? Everything does fit because we have enough storage space, we do live in an apartment, we do not have a car (we were thinking of buying one) and we try to buy food both of us will eat combined with cooking every day so food doesn’t go bad (occasionally I have to throw out my strawberries because I am the only one who eats them).
We go grocery shopping at Costco every 2 – 3 weeks, which is about the amount of food we buy to last us that length of time. This includes everything from produce, to dairy products, to frozen foods, to drinks, toiletries and all the snacks! Even if we know we don’t need something, we still walk through every single aisle. Costco usually changes the items they sell depending on the month or the season, so we are always on the lookout for something new to try.
During this pandemic, one of the things that came top of mind was what were we going to do about Costco? Costco is already a crazy, crowded place during normal life, imagine Costco during a pandemic? We weren’t going to change where we shopped for groceries, so in the last month of being in lockdown, we’ve gone to Costco three times: March 12th (the first day starting our WFH life), March 20th (a week later once it became official this lockdown would last for awhile, so we went back for things we wanted to stock up and no that did not include toilet paper), and April 14. Almost a month passed by between when we last went grocery shopping in March to this week, which is quite impressive!
I want to note that Costco is a madhouse during the normal times and I prefer pandemic Costco. They line everyone up outside, 6 ft away from each other, handing out carts that have been wiped down for you, and they let people inside in small groups. Yes, this process takes an hour longer than our normal Costco trip, but once you’re inside, you have the space you need to move quickly and the lines are short to be in and out! Maybe the positive of this pandemic is that Costco becomes more of a peaceful place?
Now, to the real part of this post! I want to share with you items we bought during our latest Costco trip to show you what we get that lasts for several weeks and methods in making some of that food last. Keep in mind, Jesse and I cook every single day. We may buy food for one meal on a weekend, but to avoid food going to waste and to save money, we prioritize eating home cooked meals.
Produce
In normal times, we made sure we get in as much fruits and veggies as we can. So, during quarantine, this seems more important to keep our immunity up and remain as healthy as we can (of course there is no shortage of fruits and veggies). Since fruits and veggies go bad faster, we do make sure we eat them with almost every meal and snack on them – from salads to including them in sandwiches, eating them with hummus and even pickling them to eat on the side with dinner. The trick to make our lettuce last longer is that we use paper towels to soak up any moistness and of course you can freeze any fruits to make them last as well.
Dairy
Since we’re home, we can have proper breakfasts and lunch everyday. We love eating eggs (and so does Lilo), so buying 24 eggs is perfect for us. In the photo there’s only one milk, but we buy two because we use the milk for pancakes, cereal and our milk teas. We buy the Lactaid milk because it’s good on our stomachs and lasts longer than regular whole milk. And of course, cheese is essential – breakfast, lunch and dinner!
Protein
Costco has the best rotisserie chicken! It’s easy to have for lunch and dinner, and can last for several meals. We will usually freeze half the chicken thighs and make the other half, which is also really great to have for several meals between lunch and dinner. Since we’re home, we bought turkey breast to have sandwiches for lunch to give us more options than just salad.
Carbs
Carbs are essential, especially during quarantine! We love the variety of pasta we chose so that we don’t feel like we’re eating the same type of pasta. The options shown below take less than 15 mins to make.
Frozen foods
We love buying food that we can quickly pop into the oven. The lasagna will last for a few meals, the salmon is a quick way for us to get our fish intake and of course frozen veggies should always be in your freezer.
Snacks
We like to keep a variety of snacks in the house for different moods we’re in between sweet and savory. This is the first time we’ve bought the mini cinnamon rolls and they are delicious!
Pet Food
Lilo needs her treats, just like us!
Miscellaneous
None of these items have a home in the categories above, but they are necessities in our household!
Total Costco spend: $331.09! This is really good for the amount we bought and how long this food will last.
If you do not have a Costco membership, get one! And if you have one, use it! You may not find toilet paper at Costco right now, but you will find everything else you need that will last you long enough to avoid going to the grocery store often.